Dual wheels on large commercial vehicles are characterized by the substantial depth from the plane of the outer wheel rim inwardly to the region of the wheel hub where the wheel is attached to a brake drum, axle rotor or the like. This characteristic makes it quite difficult to secure a wheel cover to a dual wheel. The rims of a dual wheel are not configured so that a wheel cover can be snapped into engagement with the rim as in the case with many passenger car wheel/wheel disc arrangements. The problems of attachment of a wheel cover to a dual wheel have not all been completely addressed in the prior art, particularly where a vehicle hub is provided with a hub odometer that projects outwardly from the end of the hub nearly to the plane of the wheel rim.
Wheel covers and attachment systems for dual-wheeled vehicles such as trucks, buses, tractor-trailers, trailers and the like, as set out in the prior art, disclose the use of numerous bolts, pins, hinges, threaded rods, adjustable multiple legs, center attachment bolts, numerous nuts and screws, kits of parts and other hardware designed to attach to the vehicle rim itself or to the bolts that hold the wheel onto the vehicle axle hub. The wheel cover in such arrangements is usually attached by means of a center bolt which projects inwardly into the space behind the wheel cover at the end of the hub. In many cases, at least one tool or a plurality of tools are required each time the wheel cover is attached to or removed from the vehicle wheel.
Most prior art designs utilize wheel covers made of a solid surface with no openings to allow for ventilation in the wheel hub well that normally assists to cool the hub area and adjacent brake surfaces. Additionally, the prior art does not appear to disclose wheel covers which may be attached to a vehicle wheel to which an axle odometer has been attached.
Some examples of the prior art disclose methods and apparatus for attaching wheel covers which include brackets that include spring clips or hooks to engage holes in the vehicle wheel rim or to engage the bolts that hold the wheel rim to the wheel hub/axle. However, this requires the mounting brackets to be removed and reinstalled every time the wheel or tire of the dual wheel is being serviced.
Thus, the prior art devices do present various deficiencies and drawbacks. For example, attachment brackets which rely on hooks or spring clips are susceptible to loosening under stress and are difficult to install. Furthermore, many of the prior art attachment systems are undesirably complex, either in the number of components required and/or the labour needed for installation and removal. Of course, the manufacturing costs of systems having a large number of components, can be prohibitive.
Examples of the prior art relative to this invention are as follows:
______________________________________ UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,092,420 June 4, 1963 Baldwin et al 3,248,915 May 3, 1966 Scheiman 3,317,247 May 2, 1967 Lamme 3,833,266 Sept. 3, 1974 Lamme 3,918,764 Nov. 11, 1975 Lamme 4,235,476 Nov. 25, 1980 Arvidsson 4,632,465 Dec. 30, 1986 Cummings 4,761,040 Aug. 2, 1988 Johnson 4,932,724 Jun. 12, 1990 Wright 4,974,909 Dec. 4, 1990 Patti et al 4,984,851 Jan. 15, 1991 Hayano German Patent WO 90/09898 Canadian Patent 925,539 May 1, 1973 Titze ______________________________________